Refrigeration condenser-receiver



y 1947. P. SCHLUMBOHM REFRIGERATION CONDENSER-RECEIVER Filed toot. 20, 1943 Patented July 22, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATION CONDENSER-RECEIVER Peter Schlumbohm, New York, N. Y.

Application October 20, 1943, Serial No. 506,953

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to condenser/receiver apparatus, in which vapors are condensed and the condensate is received in a receiver. More specifically, the invention improves such condenser/receiver apparatus as part of a refrigerating system, be it of the compression or absorption type. And in this field of refrigeration, the improved condenser/receive apparatus of this invention has its special merit in aircooled systems. In order not to burden the language of the description with analogies, I shall describe the invention as applied to the condensing unit of a compression refrigerating system, and there will be no doubt left for men skilled in the art, how to apply the invention to an absorption system or even to the broader purposes of condensing vapors in chemical engineering or in industrial engineering in general.

In a compression refrigerating system, the condensing unit comprises nearly all parts except the evaporating means, namely: motor, compressor, condenser, receiver and the blower to cool the condenser. The appearance of such "condensing units is rather uniform, as the constructional set-up is dictated by the necessity of arranging the receiver at a lower level than the outflow of the condenser. This is required so that the condensate may fiow from the condenser tubes into the receiver tank by gravity and without forming an air-trap between the condenser and the receiver. Inasmuch as the condenser is the heaviest of all parts of the condensing unit, it is very inconvenient to mount this heavy part on a higher level than the ground level. The typical hollow base, made from pressed steel, for condensing-units is not only costly but increases also the total height of the condensing-unit some live to ten inches.

The condenser in such condensing-units is a structure, in which the condenser tubes are held in a frame, that not only supports the tubes, but which also forms an air duct to direct the cooling air over the tubes. In the present practice, the tubes are mounted in horizontal rows, vertically superposed. Return-bends are connecting the tubes, to create a descending path for the vapors and the condensate. Thus, the inlet is at present at the top of the condenser and the outlet at its bottom.

The invention provides the inlet at the bottom of the condenser and the outlet at about onethird of its height. The purpose is to raise the outlet to a level above the receiver, and to allow for a common base for the bottom of the heavy condenser and the bottom of the receiver.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, shown as side-view of the apparatus, with the receiver tank shown in vertical section.

I recognized that the vapors, when entering into the tubular condenser path, are cooled in two stages: About the first third of the condenser serves to remove the superheat, and little condensation occurs. The last two-thirds efiect the condensation of the vapors into liquid. Furthermore, I considered that the velocity of the vapors is very great in the first part of the tubular condenser path and slows down to zero at the end. Thus, in the first part of the condenser there is no danger of liquid condensate or deposited oil forming a liquid seal. 2

The invention then is: to place the superheat cooler below the condensation tubes.

This is shown in the drawing. The common base 8 supports the receiver 1, the condenser 6, the compressor I2 and the motor l l. Of the thirty tubes, the lower ten tubes are forming the superheat-cooler 2, built as ascending single tube. The inlet l at the lowest tube is connected to the exhaust 3 of the compressor l2. The highest tube of the superheat-cooler is connected by a lifting-tube 4 to the highest row of the remaining tubes. These themselves are arranged as standard descending path for the condensate, which flows by gravity from the outlet l3 into the receiver 1.

Another advantage of the invention, as arranging the receiver on the same level base as the condenser, is the possibility of cooling the receiver by the coldest air.

As shown in the drawing, the receiver l-which preferably is a tube, placed horizontally-is arranged in front of the condenser, in the path of the air which is sucked over the condenser tubes and through the pressure-equalizing chamber In by the action of the blower wheel 9. The wheel 9 is driven by the motor H, and its intake is at a hole in the wall of the condenser casing. Additional .baflles may be provided to let all the air pass first over the receiver.

The main advantages of the invention are: to reduce the overall height considerably; to lower the center of gravity of the condensing unit; and to eliminate the heavy and expensive heavy-gage pressed steel base. At present, this latter point is especially advantageous, as the material is hard to obtain. I may also mention, that the present necessity of building much heavier condensers from steel tubing, instead of copper or aluminum, endorses the advantages named.

I claim as my invention:

1. Refrigeration condensing unit, comprising a metal base, a condenser formed of tubular sections mounted in horizontal rows, vertically superposed within a condenser-frame, a receiver tank for receiving condensed liquid refrigerant leaving said condenser by gravity flow, and tubular means connecting the outlet of said condenser with said receiver; said condenser frame and said receiver tank being mounted on said metal base with the bottom of the fram and the bottom of the receiver on the same level; said tubular means descending from a particular row of said tubular section above the top of said receiver; the rows below the entrance to said outlet form ing an ascendin tubular path for superheated 31 vapors having an inlet at the bottom of th e low- V ermost portion of said path and an outlet below the region of said particular row, and an ascending tube connected to the second mentioned outlet and to a tubularsection in the top of said sections.

2. A vapor condensing unit comprising a support, a condenser formed of tubular sections mounted in vertically superposed horizontal rows, a receiver tank for for receiving condensed liquid leaving-said condenser by gravity flow and tubular means connecting the outlet of said condenser with said receiver said condenser and said receiver tank being mounted on said support'with the bottom of the condenser and the bottom of ther'eceiver tank on the same level, said tubular means descending from a particular-row of said tubular sections above the 'topof the e'ntrance to said receiver, the rows below said outlet forming an ascending tubular path for superheated vapors having an inlet at the'bottom of'thelowerrnost portion of said path and an outlet in the region of-said particular row, and an ascending tube connected to the second mentioned outlet and to a tubular section in the top of said section's; v 7 V v 3. A vapor condensing unit comprising a support, a condenser formed of tubular sections mounted in vertically superposed horizontal rows, a receiver tank for receiving condensed liquid leaving said condenser by gravity flow and tubular means connecting the outlet of said condenser with said receiver, said condenser and said receiver tank being mounted on said supp rt with the bottom of the condenser and .the bottom of the receiver tank on the same level, said tubular means descending from a particular row of said tubular sections above the top of the entrance to said receiver, the rows below said outlet forming an ascending tubular path for superheated vapors having an inlet at the bottom of the lowermost portion of said path and an outlet in the region of said particular row, an ascending tube connected to the second mentioned outlet and to a tubular section in the top of said ections, and a blower designed to produce a flow of cooling air, said condenser and receiver tank bein aligned relative 'to each other inthe flow of cooling air produced by said blower in the order of receiver tank first and condenser last.

4. A'vapor condensing unit according to claim 2, wherein the rows below'said second mentioned outlet comprise not more than /2 of the condensing'surface of the -'rows above said second mentioned outlet. 7

PETER SCHLUMBOHM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

